Mother of Newborn Dies in Auto Accident

You don’t really realize how delicate life is until someone in your family tragically dies in a single heartbeat. Today, I talked to Rachel Hartman (pictured) who lost her cousin Lorrie Barrett Straughn in a Labor Day accident this week.

37 Year old Lorrie, who got married to Jarred Straughn just three years ago, leaves behind a newborn baby who was born on April 19th of this year. That child will never get to know her mother, which is one of the things that the Barrett and Straughn families are understandably having a hard time with.

This link (below) is to the 7-minute audio interview I did with Rachel, Lorrie’s cousin. At the bottom of the story are details of a GoFundMe account set up to help the family right now with funeral costs, medical bills and more.

http://wgnsradio.com/interview-with-family-of-lorrie-barrett-straughn-who-was-killed-in-a-labor-day-accident-cms-34871

I’m an artist

“I’m an artist,” he told me. I drove Mark to one of his friends’ home to get some shut eye. He said that he lives in the “Monkey Room” of the house.

“How long have you been doing artwork,” I asked him. Mark snickered and said, “Since mom said I was smearing doodoo on the wall!” We both laughed and I asked, “What kind of art do you do?” He smiled and said, “People’s faces, everything – doggies – I draw everything.”

As I drove I was holding a recorder up to his mouth to make sure I got his story correct and he said, “Damn, I’m glad you got me on that speaker thing right there because then you’ll know me - Once you see my artwork in the world you’ll say damn, I took him down the street.” He then started laughing as he asked if I’d stop at a gas station so that he could buy a 12-pack of beer.

During our drive I asked him, “Are you an alcoholic?” His response, “On that part right there, I can drink you under the table and still be straight, drink you right under the table.”

I asked, “What were your mom and dad like growing up?” He said, “I have no clue - Other brother is from one father, sister and brother are from a different father…” Mark continued, “I’ve been passed off to so many people.”

“Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.” - Robert Smithson, artist (1938-1973)

Josh may need your kidney

At the age of 21 in 2009, Joshua Surovey was diagnosed with having a chronic kidney disease.

During what would normally be a simple biopsy to see what exactly his kidney was doing, things went wrong. He nearly died twice and had to receive 6 blood transfusions. Despite the mishap, the kidney problems were still there.

In 2012, Surovey started dialysis and worked hard to get healthy losing 160 pounds along the way. He was also told that he needed a kidney transplant, news that is often devastating.

Surovey said that the journey has been mentally exhausting. His first thought was, "Why me?" He said, "I was down on myself."

However, those feelings of depression soon changed even though the kidney is still needed today. It was as if after the initial shock, a fire was lit underneath Surovey and he had a new found passion to live. Surovey said, "God brought me through this man, honestly." He went on to state, "I'm looking forward to life, I'm living life!"

Lebanese-American artist Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) once stated, "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." Some would suggest that Surovey is on track to stand strong in the near future, while others would agree he is already stronger than most.

While he is happy to be alive, 12 hours of dialysis every single night is quite cumbersome. He has to go through about three bags of fluid nightly. Surovey stated, “Every night, there’s no breaks.”

The fluids to undergo dialysis at home are shipped to Surovey. Two bags of fluids are in one box and the box weighs 35 pounds. Keep in mind, he uses three bags nightly. So, if the 28-year old heads out of town for 5 nights, he has to bring with him a little over 260 pounds of fluids to use in the dialysis machine. In other words, Surovey says that travel is “troublesome.”

Right now, Surovey is not married and does not have children, but that is one of his long term goals. “Everything that I’m doing I’m trying to better myself so I can be there for my family in the long run,” Surovey said. In further discussing the idea of starting his own family he said, “I don’t want to be in a situation where my health is going to decline and I can’t provide for them, so I’m trying to get myself to where I can have a good career at the end of this and start a family.”

Surovey confirmed that he is in need of a Type O donor and that the donor will be able to live a normal healthy life after donating.

The National Kidney Foundation reports that many people who need a transplant of a kidney fail to receive one due to a lack of donors. Right now there are over 101,000 Americans in need a kidney, but only 17,000 people receive one each year. Furthermore, 12 people die daily while waiting on a kidney to be donated.

After donating a kidney, the donor can easily live a normal, full life as if the donation never occurred. Reports also indicate that the donor’s medical bills are fully covered by the insurance of the kidney recipient. If something should go wrong for the donor in the future, their name is automatically placed at the top of the kidney donor list.

Once a kidney is located for Surovey, who currently lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, the procedure will be done at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Vanderbilt has one of the oldest and most experienced kidney transplant programs in the United States, having performed over 4,000 transplants since its inception in 1962. According to the Vanderbilt Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, “The Division was also the first transplant program in Tennessee to introduce the minimally invasive technique of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy for living donor kidney transplants, and now performs the largest number of living donor kidney transplants in the state.”

If you would like to learn how you can donate or to see if you are a match, CLICK HERE today. You can also call the Vanderbilt Kidney Transplant Center at 615-936-0695.

The 30 Mile Lawn Tractor Ride

Don served his country in Vietnam and in my book, he’s a hero. I couldn’t let this hero drive his new lawn tractor 30-miles alone.

On the way home from work Thursday, I saw Don driving his recently purchased lawnmower down the highway. Knowing he lives another county down (30-minutes away by car), I stopped to offer Don and his new mower a ride.

Don was armed with a can of beef stew and a cup of cold brewski when he helped me load the mower into the back of my truck. We then headed to Bedford County, TN.

Prior to picking Don and his MTD Yard Machine up on Highway 231 South, he told me that he had already been riding it for the last 2-hours, after a brief stop at his favorite bar. His goal was to ride it all the way back to his camper, in the Shelbyville area.

On the trek to Bedford County, he told me about working at MTD Yard Machines in the late 1970’s. Don said, “I worked on the line in Ohio and one day the painter failed to show up… They asked me to move to the paint line and the next thing I know, I was over painting.”

The MTD company began in 1932 and is actually family-owned company. 

New Singer Sewing Machines

According to the Webster Dictionary, a sewing machine is any of various foot-operated or electric machines for sewing or making stitches. 

What the dictionary fails to tell readers is that a simple sewing machine in the right hands can bring homeless women together and allow them to release their anxiety and burdens on creativity. 

Vanessa Newsome had the idea to start a sewing class at Greenhouse Ministries a while back, but she didn’t have enough machines. Vanessa told me, “While some women are sewing, other women are watching – they take turns.” 

After I interviewed her for a WGNS news story I made one phone call to my friend Penny Ray with Singer Sewing Machines. Within about an hour, Penny told me that she has gotten approval to give Greenhouse Ministries 20 brand new Singer Sewing machines. 

Today, I got to deliver those new machines and guess who was the very first person to dig into the first of 20 boxes? Vanessa Newsome, with tears in her eyes.

By the way, Penny at Singer also had a huge box of scissors, fabric and classroom books for Vanessa and the folks at Greenhouse.. 

Vanessa is seeing her dream of a large scale sewing class for homeless women to fellowship and learn creative new skills become more than a class of three machines. It is bigger than she ever imagined, because she had a vision.

Sadness

I highlighted this man in a March 2016 photo. When looking back, I forgot what his photo looked like in color. So, I grabbed a color version of one that I took and quickly noticed the sadness in his face seemed to intensify with color.

He told me that he was placed into the foster care system at age 6. A woman in Indiana later adopted him.

“My mom (talking about his adopted mother), was like Aunt Bee on the Andy Griffith Show,” he said with a smile.

As he continued to describe his adopted parents he said to me, “My dad (adopted father) was an Evangelist.” I could tell he was proud of the parents who raised him in life, but he was struggling.

A string of bad choices mixed with a little bad luck landed him on the streets. Today he is 48-years old.

The conversation took a downturn, “I buried my best friend yesterday,” he said while looking down. When I asked who died he said, “My mom.”

“Tears are words that need to be written.” ― Paulo Coelho, Novelist

The Value of the Human Touch

Love among those who are homeless is just as real as love among everyone else in this fast paced world. While it sounds somewhat ignorant to make such a statement, I think people often look at those standing on the corner and assume they are incapable of forming a loving relationship.

Two things can be said of this photo that involves two homeless individuals embracing one another outside of a local soup kitchen. One, they are in love and two, while they may not fully understand it, their natural human touch keeps them going.

Psychologist in France once researched the positive side effects of the simple, non-sexual human touch. The results were awakening.

The research found that the more humans touched each other, from a pat on the back to shaking a hand, the less violent they were towards one another. The basic touch built trust. The human touch in communities that worked with one another, had more positive economic gains, decreased disease and stronger immune systems.

Daniel Keltner, the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley says, "In recent years, a wave of studies has documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits that come from touch. This research is suggesting that touch is truly fundamental to human communication, bonding, and health." 

God Forbid You Ever Had to Walk a Mile in his Shoes

Homeless, but smiling and always a positive conversation. 

“God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues
Then you really might know what it's like” – Everlast, What It’s Like

Life can be full of downs, not ups

Life can be full of twists and turns, ups and downs. Sometimes, it seems as if many of us experience more downs than ups.

Jill told me, “I became a drug addict at 14, a meth addict. I got clean when I was 21.” She then jumped to the subject of her mother and talked about how the two of them were best friends while she was clean and sober. The mood then turned somber, “I moved to the state of Washington and my mom got breast cancer – got really sick and then she died about three and a half years ago. And then my life became (pause)… hard.”

The death of Jill’s mother was terribly painful for her as they had built a great relationship while she was clean and off the street. She talked to me about how she turned to alcohol to cope with the loss of her mother.

She continued to talk about the aftermath, “I became an alcoholic and then I got clean. I went into a clean and sober house – I lived there for two years and then things didn’t work out there - I got kicked out. I ended up with some men who sexually abused me and because I told, they put my life on the line so I came out to Tennessee to start a new life with my brother and his family, unfortunately he passed away about a week ago (8/10/16).”

I read her brothers obituary on Friday (8/19/16). His name was Wade and he died at the young age of 49. The obituary from Woodfin Chapel in Smyrna, TN stated, “He was a devoted family man who never met a stranger. Friendly and outgoing, he was liked by all who knew him.” This is her second brother to pass away at an early age. Not to mention the fact that her sister has breast cancer and she is battling the after math of chemo at this time in Washington State.

For so many it is one tragedy after another as they struggle through this thing called life. Jill is in her early thirties, so life can still turn around for her and be great, but there will be a mountain to climb. 

The next plan for Jill is to find a way to get back to Washington State and enroll in a yearlong program to help her continue to stay sober and clean. The program will also address her adult sexual assault and help with childhood sexual drama as well.

While living in a shelter in Murfreesboro, she has tried her hardest to hold down a job. One of those jobs was in Smyrna, but the costs of taxi money quickly lead to her losing the employment. In other words, she was working for enough money to simply afford transportation to and from work. She was then hired as a painter, but quickly fired when the head painter realized she did not have her own brushes or rollers.

Today, she is out of work and continuing to live in an overcrowded shelter. However, she still has that goal of making it back to Washington State where her sister lives and where a yearlong program awaits her arrival. But, the wait will continue as she is finding it impossible to make money, live and save enough for a single bus or plane ticket.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.” - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, a Swiss-American psychiatrist (1926-2004)

The struggle continues.

Hit by a car

51 Year old Kimberly Custer was struck by a motorist on the Murfreesboro square Saturday night. The accident occurred as Custer was walking across the street near Marina’s Restaurant.

Custer, who is deaf, could not hear the oncoming vehicle. Evidently, she did not see the car as it neared her.

The local woman who was described as being homeless, was taken by ambulance to St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro. Her leg was broken in about three places, but no life threatening injuries occurred.

Custer was released from the hospital around 10:30, Saturday night (8/13/16).

Time with her children is precious

I want to thank everyone who helped to put the homeless mother of two in a hotel room for the time that she has with her kids. If you missed my original post, the mother lives in a tent and her children live in a local Christian orphanage, which she placed them in when she became homeless. She will have the children to herself over the next nine days. It will be a great time of bonding. 

The mother was so grateful for the room and the two boys, ages 9 and 10, are very polite. One of you gave me gifts to give them… You can see the excitement in their eyes when they unwrapped them. The mother gave the children the gifts and the kids thought the presents came from her. It was awesome.

I had enough money left over to give her $80 in cash to take the kids out to eat a few nights. I also had to pay a $100 cash deposit with the room, because I did not want to use my credit card. Therefore, when she checks out she will have an additional $100 to purchase food for her camp. 

It was indeed a good day today. 

“I wonder if other mothers feel a tug at their insides, watching their children grow up into the people they themselves wanted so badly to be.” ― Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of twenty-three novels

Judging - Worth Reading...

After he got out of jail the first thing he wanted to do was to hold his cat that he had not seen during the time he was behind bars.

As I sat in his dimly lit motel room with stained sheets on the bed, I watched him play with the young kitten. The world around him was silent. The cat was the one thing in his life that fully accepted him. Despite his drinking, cursing or even anger… the cat was the one constant that never judged anything that he has ever done.

I have used this quote before, but I like it:

“Judge tenderly, if you must. There is usually a side you have not heard, a story you know nothing about, and a battle waged that you are not having to fight.” ― Traci Lea LaRussa

In the case of the man photographed:

• His father, who served in Vietnam, died of cancer when he was only a teen.
• One of his twin daughters died at five months of age. The other daughter who is still alive today, has lived with a distant family member since the death of her sister. The last time he saw her was when she was three. Today, the family member lives in another city and will not allow him to see her. Today, she is about 12.
• He has lived on the streets for multiple years fighting alcohol and life.
• One more thing… He went blind at age 15. Today, he is 34.

It’s easier to understand where someone is in life, once you know a few more details about their past.

F President Bush

"Get this on tape, I want the world to hear this... F President Bush, he is a XXXXXXX," he shouted. Then he talked about youth football and how it was harming American kids. 

From Shelbyville, Tennessee

“Sir, welcome to Nashville – where are you from and are you a Christian,” he said to me in a slightly panicked voice as if he were afraid I’d walk away before he could finish his question. I smiled, “Yes… are you?”

He then said to me, “If you saw someone who was homeless who hasn’t eaten in days, would you help them?” I told him that I would and then asked him to point that person out to me.

“Could I please have a dollar,” he asked. “Here’s a dollar, where are you from,” I inquired with curiosity as it seems as if no one is actually from Nashville. He told me, “Shelbyville, Tennessee – about two hours from here.”

The Original Spoonman from 1957

William Boyd, who is almost 70 years old, performs on the streets almost nightly. He plays real silver spoons that he stashes away in his bag when he retires for the night. In fact, he even has a fork that he plays.

He has called the long term recovery program at the Room In the Inn of Nashville home for the past 3 years and is overwhelmingly thankful for it. Prior to that, he was on crack. But, he has been clean from that bondage for 9 years now.

Before he sought help, he was in and out of jail for a number of offenses that included alcohol and theft. However, that is no longer an issue as he has found his path… Making others smile. To do that, he sings and plays his silver spoons.

Boyd is 67 now, but he started playing the spoons, forks and butter knives in 1957 at age 8. His mother took him around town when he was a child to sing or play the spoons at different locations throughout Tennessee.

He still has a goal… to get noticed and get into the music business. He said three times, “I’m on YouTube – look me up.” He says, “I haven’t given up that dream, I still want to be a singer.”

“Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly.” ― Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

He sketches nude women

He was wearing pants that appeared to be made of a sweater, or sweater material. One shoe had shoelaces, the other none. He was crouched down in the shadows of a building in downtown Nashville. Walkers passed by giving an odd glare at his drawings.

My conversation went like this: “So, how long have you been drawing naked women,” I quietly asked. “Ever since I learned how to draw about three years ago,” he told me. He then elaborated on the different poses as he thumbed through twenty or more sketches in his portfolio.

“I just moved to Nashville from Quincy, Illinois,” he said in almost a whisper. “I’m 38.”

“What do you do with your artwork,” I asked him. “I go down to FedEx and I Xerox copies and sell them… If someone wants the original, it costs more,” he told me. “I also draw hermaphrodites,” he said… “My brother use to date one.”

“Art is what you can get away with.” ― Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

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Walking the streets

His cheeks were sunken in, his body frail. It looked as if he had not had a square meal in weeks if not months.

Howard was first sentenced to prison on January 20, 1981. He was later released on parole, but found himself in and out of trouble. Today, he wanders the streets of Nashville in search of change at the age of 57.

“Why did you do to get sentenced to prison,” I asked. “I killed four men in a poker game,” he told me. When I asked him to describe what happened he simply responded, “They cheated me.” I asked, “Do you still play poker?” He told me no with a slight smile. I then asked him, “Do you still kill people?” With a laugh he said, “No, I learned my lesson.”

“I want to quit drinking, I’m tired of this,” he said while looking down at the cracks in the sidewalk. It was as if he and I were the only two on the streets talking. “I’m ready for rehab,” he said with a disappointing frown. I gave him the phone number of a rehab center that offers scholarships for the homeless. He took the number and calmly walked away as if he were about to cry. "I'll call tomorrow," he said when he left.

“Addiction is the primary way people escape the modern world. Unfortunately, it is destroying the modern world.” ― Christyl Rivers

Mechanic Mike

They call him “Mechanic Mike.” He lives atop Hippie Hill in Tennessee and he always has a project beneath his hands.

“Your family – how you feel about yourself and your health – those are the real measure of your success or failure in a human’s short adventure called life.” - Henry "Smokey" Yunick. Smokey was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR. (1923-2001)

Children living as children

She ran freely from one dog to another as if to check on them one by one. She happily lives at Hippie Hill in Tennessee

"Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr..

Good ole' Dwight on Hippie Hill in TN

I shot this at Hippie Hill yesterday. This is Dwight, super nice fella. I went out there with the Beesley Animal Clinic to give free vaccinations for dogs and cats on the hill. The folks really appreciated it. I don't think Dwight's cat was too find of it though, judging by the claws. 

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect." ~ Mark Twain